PG&E Offers Cold Cash To Hot Customers
If you're a Pacific Gas & Electric customer, you may have two ways to stay cool this summer. You can crank up your air conditioning. Or you can turn it down and get cold cash.

The northern California utility is offering 20% savings on electric bills to small business, agricultural and residential customers who use 20% less energy between June 1 and Sept. 30. Customers who succeed in meeting the 20/20 program challenge during the summer months will see a 20% credit for summer consumption appear on their October bill.

The energy savings are averaged over the period, so if you manage to use 24% less electricity one month, you only have to save 16% another month. Eligible small business customers are automatically enrolled if they've been a customer since June 2004. PG&E says the savings aren't that difficult. Turning off six 75-W light bulbs that normally burn for two hours at night can save 5%. Dimmers, timers and motion sensors on incandescent lights can save up to 8%. Replacing a 10-year-old refrigerator with an Energy Star model can save 8%, too.

Restroom Patrons Ask: "Where's The Flush?"A lot of men are scratching their heads in confusion these days. Restrooms across the country are going green with new waterless urinals, giving pause to many and causing some to wonder, "Where's the flush handle?"
Companies like Falcon Waterfree Technologies and Sloan Valve Co. are making urinals that require no water. At the bottom of the urinal is a funnel-shaped cartridge. Urine seeps through a biodegradable liquid sealant floating in the top of the cartridge into drainpipes, preventing odors from escaping into the restroom.
Many universities, municipal and federal government buildings have already retrofitted restrooms with the urinals to save water, according to Environmental Design + Construction magazine, and a number of restaurants are trying them, too, including McDonald's. Crow's Nest, Santa Cruz, Calif., has had waterless urinals for several years. The restaurant saves 60,000 gallons of water a year, according to manager Mike McClellan, or about $1,560 in water bills.

Hoosier Operator Smoking Over County Ban
Do we smell a rebellion coming? Or is it just smoke? Two weeks ago FER Fortnightly reported on a Florida operator challenging the state's new smoking laws on constitutional grounds. Now, owners of Charlie's Drive-In Restaurant, Martinsville, Ind., are thumbing their noses at a county smoking ban, reports the Associated Press.Bob Williams and Linda Dunigan posted a notice at Charlie's letting customers know that the restaurant still allowed smoking and inviting them to enter at their own risk. They even went so far as to suggest that customers offended by smoking might want to visit one of their competitors.The Morgan County Board of Health has already fined the restaurant $200 for defying the ban, and has threatened a lawsuit if the restaurant doesn't comply. The restaurant has a jar on the counter to collect money for legal fees and fines if it has to go to court over the matter.

Permits? We Don't Need No Stinking Permits!
Restaurants in Suffolk County, N.Y., could have had the pleasure of thumbing their noses at The Establishment for the past few months. Through no fault of their own, at least half of the county's 4,500 foodservice operations are operating without a permit from the health department.It seems the department planned the relocation of restaurant inspectors from Hauppauge to offices in Yaphank and didn't want to issue new permits until the move takes effect. In the meantime, it used up all its permits with the old address. The move, already delayed, is expected sometime this month, according to department spokesperson Millie Dinda. A new supply of 10,000 permits is ready to go as soon as the move is complete.

CFESA To Hold Regional Meeting in BuffaloThe Commercial Food Equipment Service Association will hold a regional meeting Nov. 3-5 at the Hyatt Regency Buffalo, in Buffalo, N.Y. The meeting is open to all CFESA members in Region 6 (northeastern United States, Ontario and Quebec) and all industry associates in that area.
CFESA is an international non-profit trade association of 420 member locations dedicated to providing a network of qualified, dependable, independent service and parts distributors to service foodservice operators. For more information about CFESA or its Region 6 meeting, please go to www.cfesa.com or contact Lauri Smith at 336/346-4700 or via email lsmith@cfesa.com.